Facebook has been blocked in Russia by the country’s communications regulator.

Roskomnadzor said the move was in response to what it said was restricted access to Russian media on the social media platform.

According to the regulator, there have been 26 cases of discrimination against Russian media by Facebook since October 2020, with limited access to state-backed channels like RT and the RIA news agency.

Meta Platforms Inc, which operates Facebook and Instagram, has not yet commented.

The US tech giant said this week that it had restricted access to RT and Sputnik across the European Union.

And now Facebook and Instagram block RT and Sputnik for users in the UK at the request of the British government.

Follows a letter from Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries in which she urged Goal, ICT tockand Twitter to restrict access to Russian state organizations it accuses of spreading “harmful propaganda in Britain”.

“I want to urge you to do everything you can to enforce the approach you are taking across the EU to block access to RT and Sputnik online output on your UK services,” said Ms Dorries.

A Meta spokesperson told Sky News: “Earlier this week we announced that we would restrict access to RT and Sputnik across the EU. »

“In line with this action, and following a request from the UK government, we will also be restricting access to RT and Sputnik in the UK at this time,” they added.

In response to Meta’s decision, Ms Dorries tweeted: “I thank Meta for responding to my call to remove RT and Sputnik from their platforms in the UK. It is important that we do all we can to counter the propaganda driven by Putin’s Russia.